The Dark
Summary The Dark are a hive-minded subspecies of Problems that seem to be made entirely of living shadows, absorbing all light but that which they emit from their eyes. The queen, also known as "Paranoia", will target a host and create a form appropriate to that person, and create worker drones that are tailor-made to inspire as much paranoia from that person in order to feed from this excess emotion. They will harvest this anxious energy until the soul cracks from a nervous breakdown, upon which the entire soul will be devoured. On their own, the workers are essentially harmless and weak, but in numbers they can easily cause unease and distress. Worse still, with excessive numbers they can pack together to form much larger Guardians, which are a greater danger. To mortals, having one's soul devoured is highly unpleasant and can lead to longer term mental health issues and trauma, but is recoverable. But for Ghosts, which appear to be The Dark's main prey, it is fatal. With enough energy collected to feed the queen, she will form another type of Dark: A Royal. Royals will generally take after the species of the Paranoia's host, and so all known Royals in the Federation have thus far been Anthropomorphic, whilst the rest of their Hive tend to take on a more feral appearance. This seems to be a survival technique to grow and learn amongst the native species, and become more advanced when forming a new hive. Their only known threats are The Faith and other Soul Eaters. They also seem adverse to strong light, and thus are restricted to darker spaces. As for intelligence, most seem to work on a childlike level of intelligence, barely mimicking phrases they've learned make those most paranoid. The Royals, however, seem to have far more advanced intelligence, matching the species around them, likely due to integrating with them. Known Powers and Abilities * Hivemind Communication: Members of the hive can speak telepathically to one another, and be commanded en mass by Queens and Royals. * Mind Control: Guards and Royals have displayed the ability to hypnotise and take control of the minds of others, possessing them, almost. * Soul Drain: Specifically feeding off of Paranoia that radiates from the soul. * Shape-shifting: The Dark seem to be amorphic, turning into a more liquid or vapour like form to flee, fitting into impossibly small gaps as long as they are filled with shadow. * Merging/Splitting: They appear able to combine with other members of their hive to become bigger and more powerful. They can also split into multiple dark on command with enough mass between them. Containment All attempts to contain the dark have been futile, leading to outbreaks within facilities. Advised action is to merely cull the workers when spotted. Most can be crushed underfoot, but only do this if spotted on their own, else call your local branch to investigate a possible infestation. Notable Members of Species Bambi: A timid Deer Dark worker donated by Ghu. Harmless. Noir: A lone Feline Dark worker who hunts on it's own. Potentially dangerous. Best avoided if possible. Known Royals: So far only Eight Royals have been accounted for, being Cyyr (Rabbit), Alpha, Beta, Gamma (Rats), Omega (Cat), and Coon (Raccoon), with Ghu (Deer) and Kaden (Rabbit) being Converted Queens. The other hive Queens (for Rat, Cat and Raccoon Dark) are unspoken for, with the Cat Queen reported to be dead (though this has been unconfirmed).Category:Creatures Category:Spades Category:Diamonds